The Hon. Kabir Hashim

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Chair, it is a pleasure to speak after my friend Hon. Harsha de Silva. We respected the President and listened. He painted a beautiful picture of the economy—he is skilled at that. But then he alleged a grand conspiracy to topple the Government and pointed at the Opposition. No need. Today, NEWS reports that the PM’s data on the “rocket” were wrong—said by Minister Wasantha Samarasinghe. So the conspiracy is within your own ranks; your team brings conflicting data and attacks each other. Yesterday the PM endorsed Hon. D.V. Chanaka’s statement; today Minister Samarasinghe says the PM was wrong. The President’s biggest problem is internal; resolve those conspiracies. We have no conspiracy and no hurry; if you cannot govern, we are ready to take over.

¶ 02 On US tariffs: we are genuinely happy about the reduction to 20%. We supported the effort—Government, President, Finance Ministry, officials, our Ambassador Mahinda Samarasinghe and team, the private sector including JAAF, and the Opposition all worked together. That is why we obtained the 20% rate. We are not petty; this is our country. But we still do not know the conditions attached. Tell us clearly. We respect India’s stance—they did not bend on their sovereign interests and spoke plainly. That firmness deserves respect.